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CANADA—I was so engrossed with reviewing for my upcoming exams last week that I did not pay too much attention to the news about the storm in Manila. It was only when my Mom called and told me what happened that it all dawned on me.
I watched the videos of the devastation caused by Typhoon Ondoy and it really gave me goose bumps and made me teary eyed. My heart goes out to all the families who have lost not only their houses and belongings but more so to those who lost their loved ones.
Having lived in a flood-prone area for more than 16 years, I can relate to the victims of the recent catastrophe. I had developed a phobia for typhoons. I always made sure I had the Chinese calendar with all the moon phases and low tide and high tide hours. The weather report was the most important part of the news for me. Whenever we would go out and the rain would start falling, I wanted to rush back home because I was too scared of being stranded and coming home to find our house all flooded. My Mom always had a candle burning on the altar when a storm was on the forecast. Some people may think this is an exaggeration but those who know me would agree. If you want to see all my excitement and joy gone in a split second, you only need to show me some heavy rainfall and I turn into a nervous wreck instantly.
My fear of the rain may have started when we experienced the worst flooding back in 1999. I remembered there was a tropical depression in the forecast but I was not a bit worried because the rains have stopped before we went to sleep. I woke up at about 2 a.m. and went downstairs. The wind was blowing hard and some of the clothes have been blown to the ground so I picked them up and went back to sleep. At about 5:30 a.m. I checked again and was so surprised to find water just in front of our door. I called out to my husband and the kids to wake up while rolling the carpet in the living room. My helpers had just left at that time so we had to do everything by ourselves. One of my kids was in one of the rooms upstairs and the other two stood by the stairs grabbing the stuff I was handing over to them. After my husband shut off the breaker switches for the ground floor, he ran outside to move the vans before the water got higher. Since this was a regular flood routine for us, we were able to clear the living room and the dining room in a short time. I cooked enough food for breakfast and lunch so we would have something to eat while waiting for the water to subside.
By mid-morning, my neighbour called my husband to move our vans again because the water reached the basketball court where he normally parked them when there was flooding. I went downstairs and moved whatever was left to the higher cabinets. I was holding our dining table and display cabinet to try and keep them steady because they were floating as the water was almost waist deep inside the house. I finally gave up, locked our doors and went upstairs since there was nothing more we could do.
It was almost lunchtime when my husband decided we had to leave because the water kept getting higher. He instructed me to put some of our clothes in plastic bags so we can get out and move to higher ground. He was worried we would get stranded and might even get washed away if things got worse because there was a creek not far from our house. We had some neighbours outside with ropes tied to the gates to serve as guides for the people needing to get out. We handed the kids to them one by one and my husband and I had to jump down in neck-deep waters. All drenched, we stayed with another neighbour where we were given lunch. When the water receded a bit, about waist deep, we moved to our friend who lived in the elevated part of the village. We took a bath there and stayed overnight. We could not go back home because the water level was still high and there was nowhere to sleep.
After breakfast the following morning and the flood had subsided, we went back to the house to check on our belongings. We left the kids with our friends because we were not sure what we would find when we got home. The dining table glass was broken and so were some dishes. The washing machine and the oven were lying on the floor and so were the chairs and the display cabinet. Good thing the fridge did not fall over completely from where we moved it. It was a total mess and mud was everywhere – I did not know where to start.
It was easier to start cleaning when there was still a bit of water on the floor because it helped take the mud away. After that we started scrubbing the walls and the furniture one by one. I had to wash everything in the kitchen including the fridge and the oven. My friends were kind enough to bring us food while we were working. One day was not enough for the clean up so we had to stay another night in their house. It took us three days to get everything back in place. I got sick a few days after because of sheer exhaustion. We were lucky none of us got hurt and the damage to our property was minimal.
I can never forget that horrible experience in my life that is why it all came back to me when I saw the recent events unfolding in Manila. It is definitely no joke to be in such a situation because we all become helpless and at God’s mercy when Mother Nature unfolds her wrath upon us. What is most consoling though is that tragedies like these are what bring out the best in most of us. I am deeply touched by the selfless actions of people who did not think about their own safety but rather went out of their way to help others. People like Muelmar Magallanes, Private First Class Venancio Ancheta, Army Corporal Adriano Regua, Judge Ralph Lee, and many more who braved the storm to save lives as well as help out in the relief operations, I have the deepest respect and highest admiration for all of you. As our countrymen start to rebuild their lives after the storm, we continue to pray that our country be spared from another tragic and devastating catastrophe in the future.
